Women's Volleyball

Gauchos Win Fifth in Row, Fourth by Sweep

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -
Using a balanced attack, the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team won for the eighth time in the past nine matches, sweeping Cal State Northridge 25-18, 25-22, 22-11 on Tuesday night in the Matadome.

The victory was the Gauchos' fourth straight via sweep, the program's longest streak since winning seven straight times via sweep in 2006. UCSB is now 19-5 overall and 9-3 in the Big West. The Gauchos are one win shy of reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2005 and the nine conference victories are the most by the team since winning 12 league games in 2005, the last time UCSB captured the conference crown.

The Gauchos limited the Matadors to a mere .010 hitting percentage as CSUN had three hitters swing at negative percentages. As a team the Gauchos had a season-best 15 blocks.

Rebecca Saraceno had eight kills to lead the team while Kasey Kipp and Stacey Schmidt each had seven kills. Tuesday marked the first time all season Saraceno failed to crack double digits in putaways. Setter Dana Vargas added 27 assists while Chelsey Lowe led the team with nine digs. Vargas had seven digs and Saraceno added six.

"This was our best blocking of the season," UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory said.

For the second straight match UCSB's middle blockers played well as Kipp had seven block assists and Lily Lopez added five more. In Saturday's sweep over Long Beach State, Kipp had six block assists to go with seven kills and Lopez had eight kills.

Schmidt added two service aces and UCSB hit .239 as a team. The Gauchos continue their four-match road swing this Saturday at Cal Poly at 7 p.m. The match is part of the new Blue-Green Rivalry between the two schools.

UCSB doesn't return home until Nov. 21 when it faces Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. in the Thunderdome. The match will be Senior Night as the team will celebrate Rebecca Saraceno, who is 10th all-time in career kills in school history.

Tickets are available by calling (805) 893-UCSB, coming to the Ticket Office located inside the Intercollegiate Athletics building on campus or by clicking here.

The Intercollegiate Athletics Ticket Office now has two parking spaces adjacent to the building and is now open on Saturdays, making it easier than ever for fans to purchase tickets. The ICA Ticket Office will be open from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturdays. The two parking spots, designated specifically for the ticket office, are already available during weekday hours, which are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

This season two UCSB players will be frequently updating Gaucho fans about the women's volleyball team through the school's official website - UCSBgauchos.com. Middle blocker Stacey Schmidt writes a blog titled "Stacebook" and outside hitter Charlene DeHoog has jumped into the social networking by providing constant Twitter updates. Read "Stacebook" by clicking here. Follow DeHoog's thoughts at twitter.com/ucsbvolleyball. Both can also be found on the women's volleyball page of UCSBgauchos.com.